1915: The Iron Man is unveiled
Götz von Berlichingen stands with his legs apart on Aliceplatz in Offenbach. The man, who is more than two meters tall, rests his hands on his sword. His body is covered in iron, silver and gold nails. They were hammered into him by the people of Offenbach. The first, however, was placed by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse. He inaugurated the "nail monument" made of lime wood, the "Iron Man", on October 3, 1915.
The people were then allowed to take a hammer. Anyone who wanted to hammer a nail into the wooden figure had to pay: 50 pfennigs for an iron nail, three marks for a silver one and ten marks for a gold one. A metal plate with your own name engraved on it cost 100 marks. The proceeds were earmarked for the National Foundation for War Survivors, the municipal war charity and the Red Cross. For example, an anonymous person donated 6,500 marks and used it to donate nails for 13,000 children. However, the famous "iron hand" of Götz von Berlichingen - a symbol of a war injury - was reserved for the nails of the war wounded.
The donors received a "commemorative sheet" for every nail they hammered in. This confirmed: "Donated a nail for the 'Iron Man' erected in Offenbach a. Main in the years of the Great War 1914/1915". But the leaf was not just a memento. It also aroused a passion for collecting, as the cards were of different colors. Some Offenbach residents nailed the collection together.
The inauguration of the monument on October 3, 1915 was duly celebrated and the arrival of the Grand Duke and Duchess, who had arrived in two cars with their entourage, was announced with the sound of fanfares. Representatives of associations, authorities, the church, the military, schools, scouts, youth organizations, choral societies, war clubs, medical officers, nurses, wounded from the Offenbach military hospital and numerous spectators gathered on Aliceplatz. In a patriotic speech at the inauguration ceremony and against the backdrop of the First World War, the then Lord Mayor of Offenbach, Dr. Andreas Dullo, said: "It should be a nail monument, according to good old German custom, and whoever drives a nail here should consecrate himself and everything he owns to the great whole, to the German fatherland, with every hammer blow." He saw the purpose of the statue as "caring for our warriors".
Offenbach followed the example of many other German cities that collected donations for soldiers and the wounded with nail monuments during the First World War. The design for the Offenbach memorial was created by local sculptor Ernst Unger, himself a war casualty. War wounded in the Hessian Central Hospital for Vocational Training in Offenbach (where war invalids who could no longer carry out their previous profession were retrained) made it.
After the end of the First World War, the "Iron Man" was supposed to be exhibited in the town hall, but ended up in a corner of the technical schools. It was not until 1932 that it was given a place of honor in the local history museum. However, it only remained there for eleven years. The nail monument in the form of Götz von Berlichingen standing with his legs apart and leaning on his sword fell victim to a bomb attack in 1943, during the Second World War.